Edenbridge at The Garage (upstairs) 11/02/2014

It’s been a very long time since Symphonic Metal band Edenbridge have played in the UK, not since the My Earth Dream tour back in 2008, then as a support act. So being one of the most underrated symphonic metal bands going, with 8 albums under their belt after the release of “The Bonding” last year, there was a lot of excitement ahead of the show as they played upstairs at The Garage in London, with support coming from Danish Power Metal band Sage’s Recital, and Dutch Symphonic Metallers Seventh Sin.

Sage’s Recital have a different lineup when they play live than they do on the album, being a four piece rather than a six piece, and with a different singer and two guitarists instead of one. They play power metal with a heavy dose of shred, their lead guitarist playing solos all over the fretboard the whole set, while their excellent singer’s voice soars over it all. They only play three songs – however, their set closer “The Last Battle” is fifteen minutes in length. The band aren’t all that tight, and their performance seems a little disjointed, and when a guitarist shreds that much during a set it can get dull. They’re decent enough however, and with a short set they’re not a bad opener.

Six piece Seventh Sin played next, and their show is really enthusiastic. They’re a great symphonic metal band, and they play six songs from their upcoming debut album “When Reality Ends”. Their singer  Monique Joosten has a brilliant voice, and a stage presence to match, talking to the crowd between songs, and getting them involved during the songs. With two guitar players they have a heavy sound, and a symphonic edge accentuated by keyboards, and there’s a power ballad thrown in for good measure. Their set is really enjoyable, and when they finished everyone in the crowd was talking about how good they were. With them going down so well and a first album on the horizon the future looks good for Seventh Sin.

Edenbridge are the main act though, and because they haven’t played here in such a long time everyone’s excited. With a setlist mostly covering recent albums “The Bonding” and “Solitaire”  they are fantastic. Sabine’s voice is incredible, and she puts in a lot of energy, while prog genius Lanvall handles guitar, playing the excellent solos the band are well known for throughout with excellent enthusiasm, while also playing keyboards at points. Opening with the first two songs from their brilliant 2013 album “The Bonding”, “Mystic River” and “Alight a New Tomorrow”, the band start off strongly, and play with great energy, and their sound is really tight throughout too. Their set is really heavy, especially the drumming, being loud in the mix, and when they play “Shadowplay”, their heaviest song, it works fantastically well and is one of the highlights of their set. “My Earth Dream” is a 12 minute epic and Sabine’s voice really shines on this one, it being one of her best studio performances too. Their last song is a medley of older material spanning their 14 year career, before they come back to do an encore of crowd favourite “Shine”. Unfortunately Sabine forgets the words to the chorus as its been a long time since they’ve last played a show, but she improvises and its only a minor blip. Their final song is the catchy “Higher” and its a really great performance, being a fantastic catchy track, and the crowd loved it. Overall it’s a really good show, and they’re definitely one of the most underrated bands in Symphonic Metal. It’s been a long wait to see them in the UK, but it’s a wait that’s definitely worth it. They’re really nice people too, and hang back to talk to the crowd after the show.

Setlist: